Mary Fragalla Mrs. Teague Honors American Literature 10 December 2015 Reading Portfolio Assignment Author’s Background and Purpose John Knowles wrote his novel "A Separate Peace" after his memories from his years at the Phillips Exter Academy in New Hampshire. John Knowles grew up in a small town in Fairmont, West Virginia. He came from a wealthy family.
In the book, “Separate Peace” community is exemplified first through both Gene and Finny resided in a boarding school for young men/boys. The young men had future aspirations of moving forward in life by enlisting in the WWII. As we all know by enlisting into the military the men all share the same goal which is fighting and protecting our country. Secondly, community was presented through the boys being friends and never separated. Both individuals were a part of the super suicide society.
Chapter Five From what Jayden could observe upon landing on this planet, was that there was no law. No order. Like Molly earlier said, Gavin is the so called “self-proclaimed king.” If there was any form of actual government, it would be a very primordial one, at best. Most likely, that would mean that the leader would be the biggest and strongest.
Why do we hurt the ones we love? Why is it that the ones we love the most are the one we seems to hurt the most? In Scarlet Ibis and in Separate Peace both protagonist have some doing in the death of the crippled boy and Finny, Gene’s best friend. Finny is happy character who goes around spreading cheer and joy. In Separate Peace Gene, Finny’s best friend, who grows more and more envious each day jounces a limb that causes Finny to fall and shatters his leg, ruining his chances of ever playing sports again.
John Knowles, author of A Separate Peace, uses both character development and setting to support his decision in selecting the title. He uses the main characters of Gene and Phineas (Finny) and their troubled yet deeply bonded friendship as a way to illustrate the separate peace that takes place both within the boys themselves and in the friendship that is built between the two. Knowles also uses the setting of the novel to demonstrate the vast difference between the peaceful Devon School grounds and the war raging outside of the school’s walls. The title, A Separate Peace, as chosen by the author is symbolic of the main characters, Finny and Gene’s, struggle to find peace within themselves and with each other while set in a place that significantly contrasts the events of the real world.
Gene Forrester’s Character Development The quote “Envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide,” (Emerson 370) accurately describes Gene Forrester from “A Separate Peace”. John Knowles is the author of “A Separate Peace” and it is set in New Hampshire at Devon High. Gene Forrester is not your normal protagonist; he thinks his best friend Phineas is “out to get him” and he eventually grows to envy him. He used to conform to Finny in the beginning, but he later grows into his own character.
Enemies will betray you, backstab you and can be very difficult to deal with. Destroying your enemy will leave guilt in your heart. In the novel A Separate Peace, John Knowles exhibits peace from reality. Gene cannot handle his emotions so he creates three imaginary friends to avoid his real enemies which were his hatred, insecurity, jealousy, enmity and envy. His imaginary enemies were Finny, Leper, and Quackenbush.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that, “envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide.” (370). John Knowles’ A Separate Peace is set during World War I at Devon School, a boarding school for boys. The book centers on Gene Forrester, a student at Devon, who could be described as an intelligent, but jealous, conformist. A Separate Peace illustrates Gene’s envy and imitation of his friend, Finny, and how it affects himself and his relationship with Finny, and also how Gene eventually finds peace.
In John Knowles’ novel, A Separate Peace, the main character, Gene Forrester, undergoes a traumatic journey to develop the aspects necessary for coping through adulthood. This novel is a flashback to the year of 1942, when Gene attends his final year at Devon High School, in New Hampshire. Although Gene appears to be Finny’s best friend, he follows in Finny’s steps so that his personality clones to be like Finny’s. Finny exposes new experiences that provoke Gene’s development into adulthood. As Gene engages in new experiences, he soon realizes that he envies Finny’s abilities.
In the story, “Civil Peace”, Jonathan possesses a positive outlook on an arguably bleak life. He always had positive thinking going on, trying to make a new life after the war-torn world that he is living in. There were many scares and horror with the Civil War going on at this time period but that did not stop him from being constructive and still have a hopeful approach to life. Jonathan considered himself to be very lucky. For everything he does, he sees opportunity and fortune, he was never the one to complain.
A loving friend turns murderer after his retched jealousness and overanalyzing pushes him to new lows. In A Separate Peace by John Knowles, the true character of Gene Forrester is shown as he narrates his point of view of the story. Gene Forrester is a relatable ever changing, humanistic, and someone who is always in contention. Although at points Gene seems mentally unstable, he is a round, dynamic character that adapts and is generally mentally sound. Gene being the narrator of his own story shows from his perspective just how he views people and their interactions.
One problem is an unfortunate sematic ambiguity with the word “jealousy” but not with the word “envy”. Jealousy has been defined as resentment against a rival or a person who has been more successful. Envy, as unpleasant as it can be, usually does not contain a sense of betrayal and resultant outrage. For example, In A Separate Peace, Finny said “He had never been jealous of me for a second. Now I knew that there never was and never could have been any rivalry between us.
In the novel, Ordinary People by Judith Guest, a family goes through the trials of trying to find normalcy after a tragedy strikes. Throughout the story you meet the Jarret family and watch as they progress through the everyday life and the challenges that come with it. Conrad Jarret is an ordinary 17-year-old boy living in Lake Forest, Illinois. Conrad is living with the burden of thinking he is at fault for his brother’s death and blaming himself for the family quandary’s. Conrad, by far, is the most interesting character for the reason that he unquestionably struggles to try to find what he defines as a “normal” life.
He had learned to adapt to the way the White man thought, as well as his way of life. Obi returns to Nigeria, seeking to save it from the ‘Corrupt African’. This also contributes to his prideful attitude as he views himself as a saviour to his people, armed with the knowledge and power of the White man. Obi’s isolation from Igbo culture and values, leads him to assume that he could follow his own path without consequences. A good example of this being a problem in Obi’s life is his argument with his father.
Desmond Tutu was born in 1931 in Klerksdorp. His father was a teacher and his mother a domestic worker. Tutu grew up in the apartheid era but seems to have made the best out of it. He was completely dedicated to the anti-apartheid cause. From being an Anglican priest, Tutu became general secretary of the South African council of Churches and then rose to become the first black Archbishop of Cape Town.
